Ban Ki-moon 'deeply concerned' by rise in xenophobia, nationalism

Businesses must lead the way in adapting to the new reality of climate change, says former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, who has called on the corporate world to help combat what he describes as "the single most devastating threat" facing humanity.

And Mr Ban has urged Australia to remember its "proud legacy" as a founding member and "integral part" of the United Nations, calling on it to play a leading global role on issues like climate change and human rights amid what he describes as "gratuitous attacks" on multilateralism and the "re-emergence of nationalism, xenophobia and isolationist political parties and governments" in some parts of the world.

In an interview via email with Fairfax Media, Mr Ban, 74, says he is "deeply concerned" by this trend and the risks he fears it poses to global stability.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, shortly before his departure from the institution in late 2016.Credit:AP

Mr Ban will speak in Sydney this week as part of the World Congress of Accountants, in a panel discussing "global risks and future shocks".

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He remains a vocal defender of the post-WW2 international order, along with its ideals of free trade, universal human rights and humanitarian intervention. "Sure, these ideas were not without its critics," he says. "But the world needed an alternative to the destruction of yet another atrocity on a global scale."

Such ideas and values are under attack, he says - "all the while the climate is changing dangerously and rapidly, bringing dire risks to our ailing planet".

Legacy

Mr Ban served as UN secretary-general for a decade from 2007, with climate change a major theme of his tenure. His diplomatic skills were credited with pushing big emitting countries to ratify the Paris climate agreement less than a year after it was struck.

Mr Ban poses with global leaders, including former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull, at a G-20 summit in Turkey in 2015. Credit:Berk Ozkan

And he points to the warnings of Australian health professionals and scientists - that "no other member country of OECD is as vulnerable to climate disruption as Australia".

The Paris deal seeks to hold climate change to "well below" 2 degrees, the point at which - according to last month's UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's special report - about 420 million more people would be frequently exposed to extreme heatwaves, and "virtually all" of the world's coral reefs would be wiped out.

"We must open our eyes and ears to what is happening around us," he says. "We may be the last generation that can avert the existential threat of climate change."

Wave of cynicism

Since departing the office in 2016, Mr Ban has remained active in promoting global partnerships, and this year emerged as one of the leaders of a new The Hague-based Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA), involving 17 countries including China, India, South Africa, Indonesia, Canada and the UK as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The GCA, he says, will aim to advance activities that can combat climate change, including ways to "address" businesses that fail to incorporate climate change risks into their plans and investments.

"Climate change is a global challenge demanding global solutions," he says. "We won’t be able to respond adequately, however, unless leaders in politics and business put their money where their mouth is and finally deliver the billions of dollars needed to make the necessary transition."

We must struggle to not let the current wave of cynicism undercut the progress made thus far.

Mr Trump, a self-described nationalist, has been a frequent critic of the UN and what he has dubbed the "ideology of globalisation", and his public rebukes of the organisation have amplified other long-running criticisms that it is bloated, inefficient and plagued by mismanagement. But its defenders maintain that the UN is far too necessary to be written off, especially right now.

Mr Ban maintains his faith in the "power of partnerships and cooperation" around the world.

"It is worth noting that we are the first generation that has all the tools necessary to end extreme poverty, shrink inequality and lay the foundations for a sustainable future for all humankind," he says.

"Those who have the faith in the multilateral system, as I do, we must struggle to not let the current wave of cynicism undercut the progress made thus far."